Environmental Conservation Agreement

　The "Environmental Conservation Agreement" based on Article 150 of the Ordinance on the conservation of Yokohama City Living Environment is intended to ensure the effectiveness of measures relating to environmental conservation. Business sites that have concluded an environmental conservation agreement exchange with Yokohama City on voluntary management targets for items such as air pollution, water pollution, noise, and vibration, as well as greening and global warming countermeasures. These are contributing significantly to reducing environmental impact.

　After the war, Yokohama City reclaimed the coastal area, actively attracted companies, and formed an industrial area. Industrial activities in coastal areas led to serious pollution while driving Japan's rapid economic growth, leading to serious pollution. Voices against pollution gradually increased, and petitions by residents' organizations to countries and cities have continued.

　Yokohama City has collected scientific data such as the health status of residents and future forecasts of air pollution, and based on this, repeated negotiations with businesses entering the coastal area to prevent pollution. In the weather condition survey, we analyzed the wind direction of Negishi Bay from Honmoku, and evaluated and verified the location of the factory.
　In December 1964, Yokohama City signed a pollution prevention agreement (current environmental conservation agreement) with the thermal power plant. In an era where local governments do not have regulations or authority on pollution sources, agreements signed with businesses on an equal footing promised businesses that businesses would be stricter than law.
　Since then, Yokohama City has concluded similar agreements with many companies located in the coastal area, and has been working together to improve the environment. From the planning stage, the company and the government to discuss the reduction of environmental impact from the planning stage was called the "Yokohama method" and became a pioneer in later environmental assessment.

　Although the living environment has improved significantly, new environmental problems have arisen as urbanization progressed, new environmental problems have arisen, and the response has spread to a wide range of fields, including the conservation.
　In response to this situation, the Pollution Prevention Agreement has expanded its contents such as global warming countermeasures, greening, and waste measures, and became an Environmental Conservation Agreement.
　Currently, Yokohama City has concluded environmental conservation agreements with 30 business sites located in the city (as of November 2022), and is promoting initiatives such as reducing environmental impact, greening, and conservation biodiversity.